A Certain Destructive Meltdowner
by CrossFaded
Summary: Both Touma and Shizuri are inhabitants of two parallel worlds. However, a chance meeting brought those two together. The story begins when their worlds begin to deviate from their original path.
1. 1: An Unexpected Encounter

It was night.

Within the darkness in an alley was the laughter of a girl reverberating through the air.

"Please! Let me go!"

An Anti-Skill personnel was lying on the ground, pleading for his life. He was supposed to arrest this girl for murder, but it seems as though he was another name added to list of her victims. His amour was completely crushed by the girl's beam, leaving his upper body naked. This was done by the girl to show off her impressive control over her ability.

"Maybe I should just roast you in the same way I did to that group before!"

A green pulsating beam emerged from the girl's palm, and fired a few holes in his body. It was so clean that part of his internal organs, and the blood that was supposed to flow from the wounds had evaporated from the heat.

She was Mugino Shizuri.

The #4 known as the Meltdowner.

Shizuri spat as she left the alleyway, "I just killed one Skill-Out trash, and Anti-Skill had to go that far? Well, that's what you get for being so annoying."

This morning, she had stepped out of an experimental facility. In a dream-like state, Shizuri wandered into an alleyway.

Shizuri did not remember the details, but she remembered a Skill-Out thug approaching her. No matter how much the thug taunted her, Shizuri just stood there, ignoring his existence. The thug got irritated, so he hurled a fist at her. Shizuri lightly waved her hand, and a thin, green beam sliced the thug into two from the bottom up. However, an Anti-Skill personnel witnessed the scene, and they dispatched a few squad after Shizuri for the rest of the day.

"Meltdowner is still the fourth most vaulable ability in Academy City. I should be fine even though I've already killed five Anti-Skill squads."

In Academy City, there are ESPers ranked from Level 0 to Level 5. At the bottom was Level 0s who is considered as powerless, even though they may exhibit some tiny amount of power. While at the highest was Level 5s who is considered powerful enough to take on an entire army and win.

There are only seven Level 5s in Academy City, and Shizuri was one of them. The seven Level 5s are then further ranked according to how valuable their ability is. Her ability was ranked fourth.

I want to be the strongest.

This was the wish of that girl when she first entered Academy City.

Shizuri was not some sad character who wanted to be the strongest to become a hero that could protect everyone. No, this wasn't Mugino Shizuri at all.

I don't want to be looked down upon, so I want to be the strongest.

Initially, this girl was happy and proud of her ability. She was the #1 at some point. She was once the strongest in Academy City. Everybody was scared yet respectful towards her. She enjoyed fame and power, and it was a delicious feeling. Most importantly, nobody looked down on her.

But Accelerator took over that position as soon as he cleared his SYSTEM scan. It took only 24 hours for him to become the new #1.

Shizuri was devastated. But she never gave up.

I need a dangerous environment to improve my skills.

She wanted to reclaim her #1 so badly that she delved into the darkness of Academy City. Shizuri hoped that by being involved in many life and death situations, her skills might somehow surpass the new #1.

Vector Change? I'll train my Meltdowner into something so powerful that your Vector Change can't do shit!

Her Meltdowner was an ability that allowed her to convert electrons into unstable destructive matter said to be in a state between particles and waves. This means that she could create pure energy beams that can melt through anything in its path without any resistance.

Believing that she was ready, Shizuri barged into an experimental facility where Accelerator was at. The bored look that Accelerator had while Shizuri had her Meltdowner at charged at full power made her furious. However, even at full power, she found the beam being reflected back at her.

Just when she thought this was the end of her life, a dirty, blonde-haired boy stepped in and spread out a sleek, white barrier around her. It shook under the might of her Meltdowner, and it shattered into pieces, but Shizuri was safe.

"So long as it can move, it will be reflected back at you. No matter how powerful your beam is, if it moves, it will be reflected. Anyway, its fortunate that my Dark Matter can still save your sorry ass back there."

The boy was Kakine Teitoku. A boy who reached out his hand, and suggested that Shizuri could focus on other things than her ability.

But he replaced Shizuri as the new #2, and Teitoku became her new rival.

Everyday, she would be inside facilities after facilities to train her Meltdowner, and her martial arts skills. At night, she would do jobs for the darkness. Shizuri never gave up, but she found her confidence in her own ability fading after seeing how powerful Accelerator and Teitoku was.

"Have I reached my limit already?"

Since curfew has long past, the street was empty and devoid of any life. The cold night breeze brushed past Shizuri's face as she continued walking.

"No matter how I hard I work, why is it that somebody else will always be better than me?"

Her wish to become the strongest has never changed. But reality forced her to accept the fact that there will always be somebody stronger than her. Now, it's just like a naïve wish that she made as a little kid. She accepted her position as the #3, and trained furiously to defend her position.

"... I'm so pathetic."

Today, Shizuri received news while training as usual in an experimental facility that her position as the #3 has been taken over by the Railgun from Tokiwadai.

The reason was because her ability could do more things than her Meltdowner. Sure, Shizuri could easily slice a steel wall into two effortlessly, but the Railgun could do the same if she tried. Shizuri cannot hack into computers with her Meltdowner, but the Railgun could with her electricity. That was enough for the Railgun to become the #3.

Looking back into her life, Shizuri had killed so many people in her quest for power. She had degenerated into a monster in the darkness.

Shizuri mocked herself for feeling no guilt from killing so many Anti-Skill squads. This was the result of being the darkness for too long. Killing was as frequent as eating breakfast, lunch and dinner.

All for the sake of gaining power.

Where did the real Mugino Shizuri go to? Why is Mugino Shizuri now a monster known as the Meltdowner?

A monster that would not hesistate to kill just because she was upset.

Deep inside, Shizuri hated this part of her. It was like a stain that bothered her.

Shizuri was just a perfectionist who wanted to be the best in whatever she do.

However, circumstances had turned her into a monster.

"Yeah, a monster like me should just disappear from this world. I don't give a fuck anymore."

With legs that lost almost all its strength, Shizuri turned to her right towards a river.

And there was nobody here to stop her.

* * *

"Dead by drowing? Cheh."

Shizuri stood at the edge of the river.

The currents were fast, but steadily moving in a single direction. Because of yesterday's rain, the water level were also higher than usual. For a river, it was rather large in width.

"Even God also thinks that I'm better off dying."

Higher water levels meant that it would be easier for her to die by drowning. Shizuri let out a small smile at the thought of that.

"Really. What am I doing? I'm smiling?"

Shizuri hated herself for being a monster, but that was only part of the reason why she decided to commit suicide.

She was more disgusted with her existence.

An existence that was continually proven to be worthless by others.

No matter how hard she worked to prove herself, somebody stronger than her would just pop out of nowhere. It was like a random person appearing out of nowhere and outshined everybody else without trying. To Shizuri, this was exactly the case, but she was blind to the fact that other than Accelerator, all the other Level 5s did put in as much effort as Shizuri did.

Most importantly, Shizuri was disgusted with her Meltdowner.

A long, long time ago. It was the most valuable ability because she was the only one who had this ability, and her hard work made sure that it was deserving of its #1 position.

But came Vector Change and Dark Matter, and her ability was demoted into something worthless compared to those two. Today, the Railgun had further demoted her Meltdowner.

This was the breaking point for Shizuri after putting in so much effort to try to reach the pinnacle of her ability. No matter how much she improved her ability, there is an eternal wall between her and the rest above her.

I want to overcome this wall. But I'm tired. I'm sick of this. I keep on trying and trying, but I can't. I'm a worthless existence that should just die.

Shizuri felt the cold water further rising up her body. It was particularly cold for summer, or perhaps it was because of the night air.

"Goodbye, shitty world. You won't be missed."

The curtain of her life should have closed, signifying the end of it. But when the water had reached her waist, Shizuri felt a hand stopping her from progressing.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

"Hah?"

Shizuri had been too caught up in her own thoughts that she never noticed the boy approaching her.

"It's too early to die, you know?"

Due to a lack of lighting near the river, Shizuri could barely make out his face. However, he had distinctive black, spiky hair.

"Shut the fuck up. This has nothing to do with you, so beat it."

"This may be your own life, but at least think a little more about it."

"Why... do I have to listen to your bullcrap? It's my fucking life, so I do whatever I fucking like with it, you fucking piece of sh-"

Shizuri felt a hot sensation on her cheek as a loud sound rang in the air.

The boy had just slapped her.

"What do you mean by 'I do whatever I fucking like with it'?! A life is not some object that you discard away if you don't like it."

"Yo-you motherfucker!"

A large, green energy orb had appeared on Shizuri's palm held out towards the boy.

She could see the boy's face clearly now with the light from her Meltdowner. Doesn't matter anyway if he's going to die by her Meltdowner.

Somehow, Shizuri did not have the urge to blast him right after he slapped her. Perhaps it was because the kind side of Shizuri had surfaced onto her personality just for that boy. This Shizuri agreed wholeheartedly with what the boy said, so she decided to give him a chance.

"This is a warning. If you don't get out of the way, I'll fire this beam right through your body."

Instead of being scared, the boy looked at her with determination in his eyes as he clenched his right fist.

"If you have any problems, you can confide in a stranger like me."

"Last chance. Leave."

"If it's about hitting a wall in advancing your Level, then maybe I kind of understand why. But so long as you work hard, I'm sure you can overcome your difficulties."

In Academy City, it was all about advancing your level towards that elusive Level 5. The lower level you are, the less opportunites you get in this city. People usually discriminate against other people who are of a lower level than them. Maybe this girl was one of those people who was constantly discriminated because of her level.

"Ha."

Shizuri began to tremble with laughter.

"HAHAHAHAHA! Let you ask you something. How can I advance beyond Level 5?"

"Eh?"

"I'm saying, I'm a fucking Level 5."

"You are?"

"Mugino Shizuri."

The boy who was Kamijou Touma seemed to have understood the situation.

Today, the annoying girl Misaka Mikoto who has been chasing him for a fight ever since she was a Level 4 had become a Level 5 today. As if to celebrate her advancement, she had fired multiple Railguns towards him, which was meant to intentionally miss him by inches.

This was why he had ended up wandering into an area near the river and met Shizuri who was about to commit suicide by drowning.

She was the previous #3 until today. This change in position must have dealt a severe blow to her.

"But... are you giving up that easily? If you worked hard enough, I'm sure you can regain your #3 position, that's why it's still too early to die."

Touma had said it in an attempt to dissuade Shizuri from killing herself. It was a sincere encouragement to this girl who had suffered a temporary setback in her life.

But Touma did not understand how many times she had believed this to be true, only to see herself being utterly proven wrong.

From #1 to #2, and from #2 to #3. Today, from #3 to #4.

She worked even harder ever since she dropped to #2. But did that hard work help her regain her #1? Did that hard work also help her regain at least her #2?

Then why would hard work help her regain her #3?

"You've just pissed me off."

Shizuri fired a beam from her outstretched palm towards Touma.

It should have blasted a hole through his face. He should have been lying on the river as a corpse.

So why was he still standing with his right hand outstretched as if nothing happened? It was like her beam was an illusion that the boy had erased with his body.

"W-What the fuck? Are you an ESPer as well?"

Her Meltdowner is a power that can pierce through anything without much resistance, so what was this boy's ability? An anti-electron ESPer? But Shizuri had never heard of such a strange ability user.

"My right hand can negate any ESPer ability. That's all to it. But if it makes you feel better, I'm a Level 0, not some high level ESPer."

Once again, Shizuri felt her existence being proven as worthless. She had put in so much effort in her ability, and this random boy who she never met before could negate her Meltdowner like it was nothing. Not to mention that this boy is a fucking Level 0.

"Level 0 you say?"

Touma could feel the atmosphere changing into something hostile. He was here to dissuade a girl out of suicide, now it seems as though he was the suicidal one for approaching the girl. Perhaps it was misfortune on Touma's part, but if he had not revealed his level, Shizuri would not have reacted like that.

"IF I CAN'T BEAT A FUCKING ZERO LIKE YOU, YOU MIGHT AS WELL SPIT AT MY MELTDOWNER!"

Touma did not understand her strange outburst. But this was the pain accumulated from being surpassed by so many people despite giving it her all.

Shizuri placed her palm behind her and used her Meltdowner like a rocket booster to charge forth, knocking Touma out of the river into the soft, sandy shore. Instead of getting up, Touma rolled to the side to dodge the incoming beams travelling in a straight line towards him.

"WHAT? USE YOUR RIGHT HAND TO NEGATE MY BEAMS? WHY ARE YOU DODGING?"

Touma could tell that Shizuri had completely lost it. Energy spheres had gathered around her, firing beams in random direction. While this made her difficult to approach, it was easy to keep a safe distance away from her.

"What's wrong? Was there anything I said that offended you?!" Touma said. With his misfortune, he was sure that this was probably true.

"I PUT IN SO MUCH EFFORT IN MY MELTDOWNER, BUT YET A RANDOM STRANGER LIKE YOU... FUCK YOU! FUCK THIS WORLD!"

The intensity of her beams grew stronger as she refocused her aim onto this boy who negated a few incoming beam with his right hand and dodged the rest.

But a sudden headache took over Shizuri.

Her world was spinning. The fatigue from eliminating Anti-Skill squads the whole day had caught up to her. What was up and down? She could not tell anymore.

Shizuri staggered towards the boy as she manifested a few more energy blobs which dissipated within seconds.

I can't... I can't be so weak. We've barely started... I still can go...

Shizuri's last moments before she fell unconscious was the blurry face of that boy who looked worried.

* * *

**Author's note: **You might be interested to know that this is actually the original first concept chapter of my fic, A Mirage To Keep You Safe. I digged it out from my computer and polished it while taking a break from studying.

I just thought that it would be nice to have a few more choices for those Mugino readers, so I'm posting this story.

It seems as though people are bored with the same old Kamikoto fics, and there's like only one Mugino fic in existence, so that's another reason why.

This story is kinda what A Mirage To Keep You Safe would be like if I decided on Mugino instead of Mikoto. Well, now that I have better writing skills when I first started, I can finally do this story justice. (hopefully?)

But Mugino is really much more challenging to write than Mikoto, you know?

Do tell me what you think about this chapter, its my first proper attempt in writing Mugino more in depth. I think she's kinda OOC here, but I'm not so sure. If she is, then maybe you could kindly point it out, and help me learn something more about her :D

I guess that's all.

Ah, that reminds me that I haven't updated Beyond Friendship for ages... sorry :(

P.S I wonder if you happen to be reading this, but ToughPreacher, your Japanese is much much better than me. I was blown away when I saw your level of Japanese, haha. You should have a proper account, makes replying much easier!


	2. 2: Once Again

Shizuri took a deep breath and slowly opened her eyes to the glaring sunlight though the window beside her.

She was in a hospital room. Her clothes from yesterday has been replaced with a simple pink pajamas. Judging from the light, it must be early morning. Before she fainted, Shizuri remembered the blurry face of the spiky-haired boy, so he must be the one who sent her to a hospital.

Just how long was I out?

"Ah, so you're awake."

Shizuri turned to see a frog-faced doctor writing something on a board before placing it back at the front of her bed.

"How many days has it been?" Shizuri asked.

"Oh? Don't worry. It's just one night. I suppose you can be discharged this afternoon."

Shizuri nodded and the doctor left.

Yesterday was a really emotional day for her. Why was she so silly to consider suicide?

Shizuri set her pillow vertically and threw herself backwards.

It wasn't just silly. It was stupid. Idiotic. Beyond comprehension.

If the people in the darkness hear of this, I'll be the butt of their jokes for the rest of my career.

What would her team members think of her as well? A pathetic Level 5 committing suicide just because her #3 position has been taken?

Shizuri clicked her tongue in annoyance, "I just realized that I need to come up with a good reason why I'm here in the hospital."

Or maybe inside a coffin. If it wasn't for that spiky-haired boy, she might have killed herself by drowning inside the river.

_What do you mean by 'I do whatever I fucking like with it'?! A life is not some object that you discard away if you don't like it._

Shizuri would have fired her Meltdowner at this boy for slapping her, but she hesitated. The kind Shizuri stopped her from doing so. She was a kind monster who would only kill to protect somebody. She understood the value of a human life. But in the end, Shizuri realized that she's a monster either way.

Before she entered Academy City, Shizuri killed over 10 odd people while trying to protect somebody or something. It was so bloody, and she remembered standing in the amidst of all the red.

But who or what was she protecting? She could not remember. It was as if the red had erased all her memories regarding the incident. In fact, probably almost all her memories before she entered Academy City.  
All Shizuri knew that she was sold to a rich family in Academy City who took good care of her. But the world of the rich and famous that she lived in was not so kind.

Shizuri hated being looked down upon by those other wealthy snobs for being an adopted trash. She swore that she would become the strongest to shut them up.

And she did. Her perfectionist attitude and her strong will in training her ability made her the #1 in Academy City.

But without even trying, Accelerator took that position away from her. Ever since then, her path went downhill as she desperately wanted to get her #1 back, and eventually she became the leader of an underground group known as ITEM.

I worked even harder than before, but instead of getting my #1 back, I became the new #4? Really, what the fuck is this. Well, I don't feel like dying now, so whatever.

It was just a moment of weakness from being too frustrated at not getting what she wanted despite putting in so much effort. Now that Shizuri has calmed down, she felt that killing herself wasn't worth it. So long as she's alive, there's always a chance.

After all, she received a phone call to participate in an important project that could move her up beyond the #4. A chance was now available.

She thought back to that boy who could negate her Meltdowner with his right hand. There was a rumour of the hidden #0 who could negate ESPer abilities from afar. Not only that, she could manipulate whatever abilities that was thrown at her.

Her name was Suzumiya Tomoki. A famous legend who once bankrupted the backers behind ITEM. The current #3 was the leader before her, which made Shizuri twice as frustrated.

I find it strange that a guy have a similar power as that girl. Or did he disguise himself as a girl? With Academy City's technology, this isn't impossible, but why? What is she/he trying to hide?

Shizuri heard a soft knock, and a girl with black, shoulder-length hair in a pink sport outfit stepped inside.

She was Takitsubo Rikou, a member of ITEM.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Where's Kinuhata and Frenda anyway?"

"Asleep. Yesterday was pretty tough. What happened to you?"

Shizuri paused for a moment to think of an excuse. She didn't want to tell Rikou that she was at a river about to commit suicide last night. Even though Rikou always had a blank, lethargic look, Shizuri had a strange feeling that she would burst out laughing in an out-of-character way if Rikou were to hear of this.

"Well, Anti-Skill was being a pain for the whole day. After that I fought someone who had similar powers as the #0, so I ended up in this shit hospital after overexerting myself."

Rikou did not ask for details. Knowing her leader's personality, somebody must have pissed her off and complications arised as a result. The rest of ITEM heard that Shizuri was no longer the #3 last night and figured that she probably needed some time alone, so they decided to carry on with the job without her.

However, that someone who had similar powers as the #0 was worrying. The reason why that someone was ranked #0 because she had zero AIM field, but possessed such a strange but powerful ability equal to a Level 5. Even a normal Level 0 would have a tiny bit, but not her. It was comparable to the Counter Stop girl in Kirigaoka Girl's Academy, though nobody is sure what exactly can her Counter Stop do.

Rikou knew perfectly that Suzumiya Tomoki was only a false name. The hidden #0 was actually a guy disguised as a girl. A guy who wished to live a normal life after being through so much... not that he is capable of his old life as Suzumiya Tomoki with his current power level.

Shizuri said, "I want you to search the Bank for a Level 0 who could negate things with his right hand. Oh yes, he has black, spiky hair if that helps. Somehow, we might be able find out more about this #0."

Rikou nodded.

As expected of her leader. Somehow, the guy who disguised himself as Suzumiya Tomoki can never shake away his misfortune. Even if Rikou intentionally withhold information, his misfortune dictates that he'll cross path with Shizuri again.

* * *

"Kamijou-chan! What do you mean by the robot ate your homework?"

An unusually short, pink haired teacher known as Tsukiyomi Komoe had her hand on both of her hips as Touma smiled sheepishly at his explanation. How could this even be possible? That student must definitely be lying because he had totally forgotten all about his homework and was too lazy to come up with a more plausible excuse.

"I'm not lying! It's true."

Yesterday night after sending the soft, tea-colour haired girl to the hospital, Touma rushed home with all his might to finish his homework. Of course, he had run into a few thugs who were looking for trouble, so it was only midnight when he reached home.

When he opened the door, a sudden gust of wind blew his homework left at a small, round table beside the open balcony outside. Coincidentally, a cleaning robot passed by and sucked it all away.

"Extra lessons for you today. Wait, you have extra lessons for the whole week already... Ah yes, more homework then."

Touma sighed as he went back to his seat.

It was a normal day in school. An ordinary morning where Touma suffers his daily dose of his misfortune in the form of homework and extra lessons.

Even so, a small smile crept across Touma's lips.

I actually like this new life. Not that I have a choice anyway.

Since classes would begin in another 5 minutes, Touma took out his phone and sent a message.

_"How's your first day of school in Tokiwadai? Have you made some friends already?"_

A reply came soon after.

_"Oh, Tokiwadai is pretty interesting. I made a few friends though. It's too bad you weren't free. I and Takitsubo-chan had a lot of fun yesterday!"_

_"Well, please make friends properly without your remote."_

_"I do! T_T"_

_"Alright, I gotta go now. Let's work hard for this upcoming school term!"_

_"You too ^^"_

Touma was a normal schoolboy with two childhood friends, though his two childhood friends is a Level 5 and 4 respectively, so he couldn't really call his circle of friends as normal.

His new life as a normal schoolboy only started about six months ago.

Before that, his life was far from normal.

After all, Touma had achieved something that no human could ever dream of achieving.

The One Above God.

It did not come easy, but he succeeded.

However, he no longer possessed such an incredible power anymore. A single, decisive strike by a Magic God using a legendary weapon had stripped away his power. It was his misfortune that the Magic God actually landed the strike on him.

I failed to change anything.

His purpose was to create a miracle that will change the world for the better, as well as for his own personal purposes. But it seems as though people are particularly resistant to change, so everybody turned against him.

Touma was thankful that he managed to keep his memories intact. If it wasn't for some greedy people who wanted to drain his power away for their own use, he wouldn't have been able to take advantage of that to transfer the damage by the weapon away from his memories.

He would never forget how brilliant that girl's smile mixed with some tears on her face was when she found him in a hospital ward, and realized that he still remembered her. (Touma played a memory loss prank on her)

She was Shokuhou Misaki, his childhood friend who he abandoned to lead a different life known as Suzumiya Tomoki after that tragic incident in the Child Error facility they both lived in.

When Touma saw that smile, he realized that he should cherish the people around him and not neglect them instead of being a hero who wanted to change things for their sake... and himself.

Even if I wanted to be the hero I was in the past, I no longer have the power to do so.

Touma felt naked and lonely. His powers and that Invisible Thing inside his right hand was no longer there. Although his right hand still had his regenerative properties, it no longer had a meaning if there was nothing to seal.

He had lost 98% of his original power. The only power he still had was the right hand who could negate any supernatural phenomenon.

Because Touma had once obtained a power greater than God, he did not think of his right hand as powerful. However, he forgot that a Level 0 who could negate any ESPer abilities was incredible to the eyes of most people. Perhaps this was why he probably angered Shizuri when he mentioned that he was a Level 0 with his negation power in his right hand.

But it's still a bit strange why she reacted so violently. Oh well, maybe there's something that I have no idea about her.

Komoe said as she stood on a chair behind the teacher's desk due to her height, "Alright, class is starting, everybody get back to your seats! We have a pop quiz today. Whoever fails will stay back for extra lessons."

As Touma picked up the pen and started doing his pop quiz, he smiled at this peaceful and normal life of being a schoolboy.

* * *

The sky was glowing orange.

It was sunset, and curfew was almost approaching.

Touma dragged his tired foot along the pathway leading towards his dorm. He had missed the last bus due to his extra lessons being dragged out until so late.

I get the feeling that this will be the same case for the whole week. Such misfortune.

There was a girl being harassed by a few thugs near the alleyway. But Touma ignored this and walked past them.

I'm no longer a hero. I'm just a normal schoolboy who wants to be left alone.

Yesterday's incident regarding Shizuri was an exception. He had to save her.

Touma thought about how Shizuri might have felt when her position has been demoted from #3 to #4. During his time as Suzumiya Tomoki, he heard of Shizuri being the #1 initially before being overtaken by Accelerator, Teitoku and yesterday, Mikoto.

It must hurt to be demoted from the strongest to the #4.

In a way, Touma was in a similar position as Shizuri. He was demoted from the strongest existence in the world to a normal human being. Instead of committing suicide, Touma decided that he would stop being a busybody hero and live a normal life.

He had become a disillusioned hero. A hero who had no more desire to save anybody because he got his own illusions shattered. Even if Touma had the desire, he no longer have the power to save anymore.

Touma felt something tugging at his pants.

"Suzumiya Tomoki?"

It was a small, blonde girl dressed in a black and white goth outfit. She also had a pink, heart-shaped bag slung over her shoulder.

Chills ran up Touma's spine.

Suzumiya Tomoki was a girl. Because Touma disguised himself as a girl, he managed to evade all of his enemies from the science side.

So how did this girl know of his alternate identity?

"Hungry." The blonde girl frowned.

Touma took a deep breath to calm himself down. This might be a case of mistaken identity.

"Who are you?"

"Febri."

"Who is Suzumiya Tomoki?"

Confusion ran through Febri's face like trying to solve a difficult puzzle before she gave up.

"I don't know. Hungry."

Touma grabbed hold of Febri's small hand and decided to bring her to a restaurant.

There was just too much oddity from this girl who made Touma unable to leave her alone and walk away.

* * *

Shizuri was at a family restaurant. It was around the peak hours, so there were quite a lot of people inside. She was lucky that she got a seat before the crowd started to pour in.

After Shizuri tasked Rikou to search for this spiky-haired boy in the Bank, Rikou reported that there were about 13,500 Level 0s with varying black and spiky hairstyles. However, Rikou was one of the best in reconnaissance, so she managed to dig out some urban rumours regarding the power of this boy and determined that he was living somewhere in this district.

Shizuri decided she would seek out this guy after she had her dinner.

Normally, it was to kill him in a rematch, but this boy had saved her life by stopping her in time after all, so she decided to call it quits as a form of thanks.

Nevertheless, she found this boy and his power interesting, so Shizuri wanted to find a chance and challenge him in a friendly match.

He'll probably lose a limb or two, but I'm sure Academy City can fix him up pretty good.

Perhaps it was fate, but Shizuri swore that she saw that same spiky, black-haired boy entering the restaurant with a small, blonde girl.

Shizuri got up from her seat, went up to this boy and sent a swift kick to his abdomen. As he bent forward, she sent another kick upward to his jaws before sending a fist across his face, causing him to crash into the nearby tables.

It happened so fast that Touma did not have the time to react.

As he got up with an aching pain in his back and face, Touma realized that it was Shizuri who attacked him.

Expecting a Meltdowner from this girl who he angered last night, Touma raised his right hand to prepare for the green beam appearing at any moment.

However, it never came.

Instead, Shizuri just said only one word.

"Hi."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Okay, because it's a short chapter, I managed to actually write this chapter in just a couple of hours. I believe that Chapter 3 and beyond would be longer when I introduce a new arc which I will not reveal for now, but should be pretty clear if you've watched Railgun S. And that means I won't be updating that soon, so apologies :(

In case you're wondering, I named Touma's alternate identity as Suzumiya Tomoki as a small reference to Suzumiya Haruhi who can be considered to be God with her apparent reality bending powers. Apparent because it isn't proven that Haruhi can actually bend reality.

To the guest reviewers, glad you liked this story :)

And I hope that you guys would like this short chapter as well.

If you have any comments or questions, please do leave them in the review box below.

See you.


	3. 3: Not Alone

"Thank you, Tomoki-chan! Just now you asked who was Suzumiya Tomoki right? Isn't that person you?"

Febri was smiling while holding Touma's hand as they walked along the streets with Shizuri beside her. The kid meal that Touma treated her to was extremely delicious.

"I'm Kamijou Touma, damm it. Not Suzumiya Tomoki! Do I even look like a girl to you? Whose Suzumiya Tomoki anyway?"

For odd reasons, Febri seemed fond of referring to Touma as his alternate identity. He could not understand the purpose behind sending a little girl to approach him.

If it was assassination, there are other better methods than this. If it was to spy on him and the people around him through the girl, her method of approaching him by referring him to his alternate identity was stupid.

No. It must be something else. But what could it be?

"Suzumiya Tomoki is the hidden #0... a person who has an ability equal to a Level 5, but isn't an ESPer nor Gemstone at all because no AIM field is detected from her. She's rumoured to be dead." Shizuri said.

She found the boy who she now knew his name as Kamijou Touma subtly odd.

Even as Shizuri gave him a good beating as a form of greeting, Touma seemed to not mind. It felt like he had known her for a really long time, but Touma was a stranger that she met only just yesterday.

Shizuri figured that perhaps this might be part of his personality, but that subtly odd feeling refused to go away. It was similar to when her kind side surfaced, stopping her from firing Meltdowner on Touma who stopped her from committing suicide.

For some reason, it was easy to forget that he was only a stranger.

There must be something more to this guy.

She had solved the first mystery.

Shizuri continued, "You can drop your act. Suzumiya Tomoki."

The calm atmosphere turned serious.

"Suzumiya Tomoki is dead. I'm aware that my Imagine Breaker, which is the power in my right hand might have given everything away in an instant, but the darkness has given the sign that they're convinced Suzumiya Tomoki is dead. Even if they realized later on that Kamijou Touma and Suzumiya Tomoki is the same person, so long as I remain 'dead', I'll be left alone."

Shizuri was only sounding him out, and it seemed as though she was right in saying that he's actually that hidden #0. Although why did Touma disguise himself as a girl was intriguing, Shizuri was more interested in another question.

"What happened to your power? Don't give me this bullshit that you were holding back, I don't believe it."

"Mostly gone." Touma decided to lighten up the atmosphere by changing the subject, "I just realized that I need somebody to take care of Febri. I don't think I have the time, and having a guy to take care of her is a little inconvenient."

Shizuri glared at him, "I don't run a fucking daycare centre."

"I have extra lessons until evening, otherwise I wouldn't even be asking you."

"We are free tomorrow."

Touma turned to see a familiar girl with shoulder-length black hair in her usual pink sport outfit beside her. He had no idea when was Rikou there. She left no footsteps while walking up towards him.

"Takitsubo." Shizuri said, "ITEM is not a fucking daycare centre. Why are you here anyway?"

"I happened to pass by."

In truth, Rikou was worried and feeling a little guilty, so she decided to check on him to see if he's okay. She knew that Shizuri had probably more or less figured out that Touma is that hidden #0 from the moment Shizuri said that his ability is to negate things with his right hand.

But she had a reputation to keep as one of the best reconnaissance agent in the darkness to remain valuable, and Shizuri might suspect something if she's intentionally withholding information. So the least she could do for Touma is to withhold enough information by only revealing the district where he lived in.

"Oh."

"Please save my sister." Febri said.

The abruptness made everyone stopped walking, with full attention placed on her.

"What...? Be more specific. If you're willing to pay, ITEM will save your sister." Shizuri said.

While it was unlikely that a little girl was able to hire a mercenary group like ITEM, the people in Academy City were always full of surprises, so Shizuri did not rule out this possibility.

Febri pointed to Touma, "Somebody released me, and asked me to look for a person named Suzumiya Tomoki to save my sister. At first I forgot about my exact purpose to find this person, but everything is clear now after some food."

Touma realized what was going on. Febri was probably released by an unknown person, but for some reason, that person could not release her sister as well, so he or she asked Febri to seek his help.

How did that person know of his alternate identity, and why does he or she need his help to save Febri's sister is a mystery, but there was nothing Touma could do.

All he had left was a negation power in his right hand. He no longer had the power that at least made him the #0 in Academy City.

The answer to that person was simple.

"I can't save your sister. I'm so-"

Rikou gave Touma a resounding slap.

"How long are you going to keep this up?"

Touma forced a smile, "What do you mean?" but he knew what Rikou meant.

"The Kamijou Touma I know would never say such a thing. After your defeat in Europe, you've changed. Maybe you needed some time to get over your loss, I understand, but don't you think that you should've already gotten over it and become your old self again?"

Touma remained silent as he looked at Rikou. Her usual blank expression has been replaced with clear, visible anger. This was the first time that Shizuri actually saw Rikou displaying other forms of emotion.

Rikou continued, "Do you know that the girl who was in need of help that you ignored just before? She was raped. And the boy being bullied by some thugs who you also ignored as well two days ago? He committed suicide. There are many other similar examples I could list out within these past six months. You even ignored people who clearly sought help from you. Is this really the same Kamijou Touma as before, or are you just another person being plastered with the name Kamijou Touma?"

"..."

Because he didn't extend a hand out to help people in need, many of them had faced a fate worse than death. Touma did not doubt Rikou's information gathering skills, so what she said must be true. He knew it was true as well because he felt guilt from ignoring them.

If he had chosen to ignore Shizuri like he normally would, she would have been inside a coffin now.

At first, there wasn't much lighting, and the night sky was dark, so Touma didn't know she was Shizuri. It was until he heard her voice, that he thought that she might be Shizuri, and she confirmed his suspicions by telling him her name later.

Touma was thankful that he managed to have a chance to save her from committing suicide.

After all, she was someone special to him. Both in a good and bad way. But she doesn't remember a thing.

Just then, Shizuri decided to cut in.

"Well, I don't really understand shit, but let's have a match. If you win, you can continue to be the loser that you are while ITEM will save this little girl's sister free of charge. If you lose, let's just say you'll either end up in the hospital or in a coffin."

* * *

At a grassy field near a river, under the starry night sky, Shizuri stood about 4 meters away facing Touma. Buildings could be seen looming above the upward sloping ground beside the river. Rikou was standing at a corner some distance away with Febri.

They were in an isolated open area away from the district.

Shizuri brushed her long, tea-coloured hair with a hand, "Takitsubo is the time keeper. To win, all you have to do is to land a solid hit on me within five minutes. But you might lose a limb or two while trying."

Touma found it strange that there was a time limit. Since he had the option of losing just by dodging Shizuri's beams for five minutes, he decided to make things clear.

"What exactly would happen if I lose?"

"Then ITEM will not save her. You'll decide if you wish to abandon this girl, or save her sister," Rikou said, her words as cold as the night air.

Touma can only win. ITEM is the one who has power, not him. He cannot save Febri's sister on his own.

But if he wins, that would mean he's running away just like before. Running away from his failure to change anything.

Touma was bitter about this, and he had let that affect him by refusing to save anyone because if he changed nothing despite acquiring a power above God, then why would his right hand be any different?

So should Touma lose?

And then he realized that he didn't really have a choice. Shizuri was a Level 5, the #4. He was just a Level 0 with a right hand that can negate things.

It's either Shizuri lets him win, or not.

Manifesting four blobs of green light in front of her, Shizuri fired them one by one towards Touma, which he responded by raising his right hand up, allowing the pillars of light to burst in rapid succession into nothingness when it came into contact with that hand.

Shizuri said, "Your five minute starts now."

With a small beep, the match between Shizuri and Touma begun.

Shizuri fired two light beams from her palm towards the left side of Touma's body, causing him to dart to his right, and blowing up the ground where he once stood, sending chunks of soil flying around with a few landing onto Touma's back. While that left a stinging sensation on his back, he was glad that he was not knocked off-balance from that.

Having predicted Touma's movement, Shizuri shifted her body with her palm facing the left side of Touma's body and fired another beam at him.

Touma swerved around and negated that beam with his right hand. However, that did not end there as Shizuri sent a barrage of light beams from the green blobs of light now in front of her, four at a time at him.

Relying on the momentum from his swerve, he darted off to his left, but it was not fast enough as two light beams grazed past his back, revealing parallel burn marks on his now exposed skin.

Touma weaved through a series of light beams, raised his right hand to negate an incoming beam and darted off again.

He knew that he could not possibly run away forever. As the burning sensation in his leg grew stronger, his movement became more sluggish by the minute.

I can't get close at all.

Touma understood why Shizuri was so generous by allowing him to win if he lands just one blow on her. There was no need for a time limit at all. Just by standing there and keep on firing, Shizuri would ensure that her Meltdowner would eventually slice his limbs off when Touma was too tired to dodge anything.

However, he noticed that Shizuri's rate of fire was not particularly fast. In fact, it was rather slow by his standards. Saints could dish out attacks at supersonic speed, and they were a constant source of annoyance for him.

He could have taken advantage of the lag time between each shot, but he was no longer able to cover the distance between him and her and punch her in that time.

This was when Touma fully felt the impact of losing the power he once had.

If it was in the past, I would have finished this fight in three seconds. I don't have to keep on running and running, and still be doomed to lose. I am truly powerless. I can't even save Febri by winning this small match with my current state.

Touma skidded to a halt and with several sweeping motions of his right hand, he erased three incoming beams as if he was wiping an imaginary whiteboard in the air with his right hand.

"I have not moved from my position." Shizuri had a contemptuous smile as she watched Touma panting heavily while struggling to keep himself standing, "What's this? I get a shitty version of the hidden #0. I was expecting more of a challenge, but I guess you're nothing without your power."

Where was his long-range negation power that he was famous for? And his so called Reflection that was much stronger than the #1's Reflection because it did a lot more than reversing vectors.

Shizuri had not met the #0 in person before, so she wasn't sure what Touma was capable of during his prime.

She was interested in seeing for herself what did the others meant by the #0's Reflection being able to 'manipulate whatever abilities that was thrown at him/her.' It would have been an eye opener.

So disappointing.

Shizuri walked up towards Touma at a leisurely pace. There was no green blobs in front of her. Touma had no idea what she was planning by leaving herself so open.

He clenched his right hand tight into a fist, pouring maximum strength into that fist.

Here's my chance. I just have to land that blow on her.

Touma swung his fist hard towards Shizuri when she came close enough, but Shizuri stopped the incoming blow with a hand, pulled him close and performed a judo throw, flipping him over.

Despite his aching muscles begging him to stop, Touma was now close enough to take advantage of the lag time of Shizuri's Meltdowner. So long as his right hand touches Shizuri before she fires her Meltdowner, he'll be safe as his right hand will seal Shizuri's AIM field upon contact, preventing her Meltdowner from activating.

Touma pushed through the pain, sprang up into action and threw his entire weight onto Shizuri with that fist. However, she sidestepped it easily, and with a roundhouse kick, Shizuri sent him sprawling to the ground.

Refusing to give up, Touma got up again. Shizuri sent an upward kick towards him, jabbing into his abdomen, and performed another judo throw to slam him towards the ground again.

Shizuri chuckled, "Is that all you got? Can you even stand up?"

There was silence.

Touma laid on the soft grass as he sighed. There was finally some relief to his battered body. Unlike most ESPers who rely only on their power, Shizuri was probably also a professional judo practitioner from what he could see from her throws.

There was no way he could win. Touma's combat skills were only at a level of a street thug. A professional like Shizuri would take him down easily. Not to mention that her Meltdowner made it difficult for him to even get close in the first place.

"I can't. I'm so powerless. I can't even touch Mugino, let alone saving Febri's sister. I can't save people anymore. I don't have the power to save people anymore."

Rikou stepped forward and stomped hard on Touma, "Get up."

"Huh?"

"I said get up."

"As you can see, I'm not in the condition to ge-"

Rikou sent another blow with her foot, "Didn't you hear me? Get up."

"Don't you get it? I'm powerless now. Even if I get up, I'll still lose. So what's the point?"

"Are you giving up? Because you are powerless?"

"Yes."

"KAMIJOU TOUMA!"

Rikou's voice reverberated through the air, stunning Shizuri. She had never heard Rikou scream before. Even though Touma is Rikou's childhood friend, he must be someone so special that Rikou is actually displaying emotions like a normal human would.

It wasn't even about winning or losing anymore. It was about how Touma had degenerated into a person who keeps on whining about having no power anymore.

This wasn't the Touma that she knew.

The real Touma would just smile at his lack of power and move on instead of whining. Rikou did not care about what exactly happened in Europe that made him become like this, all she wanted was for the real Touma to return.

Rikou trembled with anger, "Have you already forgotten the days when you only had your right hand? Did you ever thought of yourself as powerless? I'll never forget the day when we stood in front of an entire battalion just to protect that boy. We were powerless, but did that stop us from trying anyway?"

"He had Vector Change. Even a nuclear bomb wouldn't scratch him."

"Don't you remember? He wasn't a Level 5 at that time. That was why we were worried. That was why we wanted protect him. Did we let the fact that we were powerless stop us?"

"So what. In the end, we couldn't stop that tragedy from happening, and it was all my fault."

Rikou remembered the massacre in the Child Error facility they were once in. Under her leadership with Misaki, she managed to sneak a small group out to safety. It was unknown what exactly happened to Touma while he attempted to fight the ESPers that was killing all those children, but he disappeared and took on the identity as Suzumiya Tomoki.

The only survivors were the small group that she and Misaki managed to save. The battalion incident was a set up to take Accelerator away from the Child Error facility into custody to prevent him from interfering with the massacre.

"Even so, we did our best. You did what you could as well. After that, you disappeared without a word. You said you ended up in Europe because you wanted to create a miracle that will change the world. A world where everyone will have a happy ending.

"You needed help to create that miracle. What I want to say is that if you find yourself having not enough power. Ask for help. You're not powerless. You have us. If you wish to win this match, but unable to do so, ask for my help then. If you wish to save this girl, but unable to do so, ask for help then. SO STOP SAYING THAT YOU'RE POWERLESS WHEN YOU'RE NOT."

The sound of the wind blowing past could be heard in the silence.

Touma got up, his body still trembling from the pain.

I've forgotten.

Yes, he needed help to create that miracle. While Touma got a power boost during that massacre, it wasn't enough. He did not magically acquire superhuman properties like a Saint, nor being able to sprout wings at will.

All of these had to be earned and fought for. In fact, if he had not managed to reach that level in the science side as Suzumiya Tomoki, it was impossible for his plan in the magic side as Kamijou Touma to have a chance in succeeding.

Also, Touma could not have achieved the status as The One Above God on his own. He had sought help, and manipulated his way to that status.

I'm powerless, so I can't save people.

That was what Touma thought as he kept on rejecting people who was in need in front of him.

But I was wrong. I actually still have power.

Touma still had the negation power in his right hand. He was not completely powerless.

I still have my friends as well.

Shokuhou Misaki was the #5 in Academy City. Takitsubo Rikou was a Level 4 who had an extremely valuable ability known as AIM stalker. Furthermore, her information gathering skills were one of the best in the darkness.

Then, a shocking realization came over him.

Touma began to tremble slightly.

Why I've become such a person?

From the moment Touma decided to change the world through creating a miracle, he had been so obsessed with gaining power to achieve his goal that when he lost everything, Touma believed that he no longer had power to save everyone.

This was the result of being traumatized by similar incidents three times.

He had grown twisted along the way, and so he forgot all about the individuals who needed help.

He may not have the power to change the world, but he still had the power to change the world of one individual. Wasn't that enough?

It was a simple fact that had escaped him. And when he figured this out, Touma could feel his corrupted self fading back into his original self.

"Really, what was I thinking during these past six months." Touma said. "I may be powerless, but I have my friends. I still have my right hand that can still change at least one person's world."

"Are you ready to fight again?" Shizuri smirked. She had completely outclassed him in almost everything. It was through fighting weak people like Touma that Shizuri was reminded that her borderline insane training wasn't for nothing.

Even after escaping from his 'I can't win because I'm powerless' mentality, Touma did not see any chances of winning. The condition to win, and the battlefield made it impossible.

But Touma did not have to win.

Winning isn't everything. It's the outcome that's important.

A loud beep sounded, signalling the end of five minutes.

Shizuri sighed and shook her head, "Pathetic. I was looking forward to something challenging. Well, if you go down on your knees and lick my shoe while begging me, I might consider helping you out free of charge."

"That won't be necessary."

Touma reached for his phone.

"Misaki, I need a favour. Contact ITEM's manager. I want to hire them for a job."

Shizuri nearly popped a vein and began firing beams at Touma in anger.

"ISN'T THE MATCH SUPPOSED TO BE OVER?! WHY ARE YOU STILL FIRING AT ME?!"

"BECAUSE YOU FUCKING DESERVE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM. WHAT? YOU THINK I'D LET YOU GET AWAY WITH DELAYING TIME LIKE A PUSSY TO AVOID FURTHER PAIN AND THEN HIRE ITEM ANYWAY?"

"I'VE ONLY DELAYED TIME FOR ONLY ABOUT 10 SECONDS OR SO!"

"I DON'T CARE AT ALL YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

Touma cursed his misfortune as he had to run again to dodge Shizuri's beam.

Rikou smiled.

Welcome back, Kamijou Touma.

* * *

In an abandoned factory, two girls were busy fighting automated Powered Suits who had a something like a hockey stick in hand.

"Well, this is definitely super easier if we had Mugino and Takitsubo!"

Saiai, a girl who had short, brown hair, grabbed an incoming stick, snapped it into two and punched a hole through the body of a Powered Suit. She was busy moving around as she kept on crushing those Powered Suits with her bare hands thanks to her Offense Amour ability granting her superhuman strength.

"It's not like ITEM cannot function without them. In the end, we two are enough for simple tasks like these."

Frenda, a blonde-haired girl, was firing rockets made completely from pure compressed nitrogen from a sleek, black bazooka at an elevated platform of the factory above Saiai. Explosion rocked the area as she kept on firing at the Powered Suits who were like swarming ants.

"I'm out of ammo!"

Saiai leapt up towards Frenda and began to recharge the bazooka with her ability. Since this bazooka was made of Academy City's technology, all Saiai needed was to load it up with compressed nitrogen and the bazooka will convert it into rockets. Frenda reached inside the bazooka and touched the compressed nitrogen.

Her ability was Explosion Enhance. It works by first touching an object. If it explodes, the magnitude of the blast waves generated will be increased maximum up to twofold. However, the time limit is 30 seconds. After 30 seconds, she has to touch the object again if it doesn't explode. Which was why Frenda's ability was only at Level 3.

Objects that were marked by her ability would give off a faint glow only Frenda can see. Despite it providing a tactical advantage as she could disguise bombs that would provide more destructive power than it originally would, she was still a Level 3 because of the time limit.

"Alright, all super done." Saiai said.

"Isn't this supposed to be an illegal weapon transaction that we have to stop? Why is there only lame robots running around with a stick? Not to mention that unlike the HsPs-15, this robot cannot even fire one missile? What a joke."

Saiai stifled a yawn, "It's kinda weird, but we super wasted so much time. Let's go, we still have a few more jobs to finish by dawn."

Frenda fired a hole through the roof with her bazooka, and passed Saiai a smart bomb altered by her ability that was set to increase its blast waves by twofold when it explodes.

"I'm ready."

Saiai propelled Frenda upwards through the hole, and Frenda activated a parachute, landing safely outside. Then, Saiai hopped over the elevated platform, pressed a button on the bomb, and dropped it.

The destructive power was so large that the remaining Powered Suits was destroyed in an instant, and the factory was leveled. Because her Offense Amour automatically activates a nitrogen barrier around her, Saiai walked out of the explosion unharmed, leaving burning scrap metal in its wake.

* * *

"Despite lacking data from the #4, we're still collecting valuable data."

In a dim, air-conditioned conference room, six person were seated around a large table, each with a laptop. Except for one girl with short, black hair, the remaining five wore spectacles. All of them had witnessed Saiai and Frenda's battle against the Powered Suits through their laptops.

"Febri has escaped. Should we proceed with reclaiming her?"

"It's about time we collect data from Febri regarding her ability out in the open. To those who agree, raise your hand."

Five out of six people raised their hands in union, leaving the final vote to the girl without spectacles.

After a short pause, she raised her hand as well.

The leader of the group of six who was Aritomi Haruki nodded. He was a man wearing spectacles with a scrawny build.

"Passed. We'll proceed with the plan tomorrow."

* * *

**Author's Note: **I wonder if Rikou's confrontation with Touma being OOC was a bit too sudden. Actually, there are back stories regarding this, but its just that I started the story with Touma meeting Shizuri, so I couldn't insert them without distrupting the flow of the story.

Anyway, it's interesting how Rikou was kinda OOC by expressing clear emotions in response to Touma's OOC, but that was settled within this chapter, so Touma is back to his old self again. However, this Touma might be slightly different from canon... let's just say he's more of a tactician than in canon, and is not afraid to ask for help (even though in NT8, he finally asks for Mikoto and Index's help).

About the match regarding Touma and Shizuri, yes, Touma is doomed to lose, at least in a battlefield where there's nothing to take advantage of. Shizuri did not tirelessly train her martial skills and Meltdowner for nothing after all.

Oh, if you're wondering. Touma met Shizuri before he entered Academy City. That's all I'm revealing.

And there's Frenda's ability as well. I just added it in because it seemed to fit with her. She isn't immune to her own ability, so she has to be really careful when using it. I think its a pretty balanced ability somewhat, but please do tell me if it's quite overpowered. There are other limitations such as the maximum surface area of the object that her ability will work on, but these will be covered more in detail later on when its necessary.

I think that's all for now. Hope you liked this chapter. If there's anything you want to comment on, or wish to kindly point out anything wrong, please do leave them in the review box below.

See you :)


	4. 4: Graviton Bombing (1)

There are no heroes in this world.

A girl laid naked against a cold concrete wall in an alleyway, hugging her torn clothes, crying.

She was raped.

In the end, nobody came to save me.

Her only sin was being born good-looking. She had long, black hair like most girls usually have, and she had a very innocent and cute face. Coupled with her outgoing personality, she was labelled as a slut by her female classmates for being too friendly with the boys.

Eventually, she was alienated by her classmates. Most of the boys she was friends with began to ignore her as well because they were scared of offending the other girls, or they felt that going against them for her wasn't worth it. It was unfortunate that her female classmates were influential people in the school, so even her schoolmates were alienating her.

I don't deserve this at all.

Her sobbing grew stronger at the thought of this.

Her female classmates went as far as to send thugs to rape her. All because she was chatting happily with a newly transferred boy who happened to be the target of their affections, but it was probably because this boy ignored them, so they were angry that he was chatting happily with her, the slut.

This is a story of a girl who waited for a hero to save her, but never appeared.

"What happened?"

The girl could see a female scientist approaching her. She was like a strange angel bathed in the glorious moonlight with her ready-made cheap, white lab coat.

"..."

The scientist frowned after she saw her naked while hugging her torn clothes, "I see. I'm sorry."

Both of them were silent for a long time before the girl decided to say something.

"Do heroes exist in reality, or are they only fictional characters?"

"And I thought young girls like you would be more into urban rumours. Don't tell me you've never heard about the #0, a hero who would save anyone in need?"

The girl smiled weakly. The #0 was a forgotten legend that faded into obscurity over time, but she wasn't the sort who was into urban rumours. Most of them were probably fake stories made up by over imaginative people.

"The #0 is just another fictional character."

"You're wrong. While not everything about the #0 is true, the fact that he exists is definitely true." The scientist said, "You might be interested to know that he was the sort of person who was willing to start a war just to save a little girl, but that's just a lousy analogy from me."

"So? Why are you telling me all this?"

The scientist took out a picture from her pocket, "Something happened to him, and he has changed as a result."

"Him?!"

The girl remembered this guy. A couple of times, she had seen this boy ignoring people who were clearly in need of help. Despite their pleas, he continued walking. Today, he had also walked past her, completely ignoring the fact that she needed help as well.

If only that boy had stepped forward... then she wouldn't have been raped.

The girl crushed the picture into a ball in anger, "Don't tell me he's that #0?! That's impossible! He's a jerk who ignores people in need of help!"

"That's why I said that he has changed. Anyway, this is the reason why I'm here. I want to turn him back into his old self."

"And what do you want me to do?"

The scientist took out an MP3 player and tossed it to the ground, "This is Level Upper. A program that will boost your level just by listening to it. Of course, it's still in the beta stages, so I need people like you to test it out. I'm willing to give you this if you become a villain to force this boy to become the hero he once was."

"Why should I help you? I don't even know this guy. I don't even care if he remains the jerk he is."

"Aha, good question. Think about it, a villain must exist first before a hero can exist. In a way, you're creating a hero that will save countless other people if you turn the boy back to his hero self. And if you're a competent villain, more heroes will be created as well. Isn't that a good thing?"

After considering for a moment, the girl agreed.

The scientist said, "I'm sure despite being a villain, you'll save many other people as a result. Just start by creating incidents with your power. I'll give you a good suggestion on how to start. Target a shopping mall under the #0's name. Make it big so that it'll attract his attention."

"Hey... what's your name? I'm Takagi Fumiya."

"Let's just say that I'm a Kihara."

The scientist left the alleyway with a smile.

Meanwhile, the unfortunate girl who was Takagi Fumiya decided that she'll save everybody who is in need of a hero by becoming a villain to create heroes.

* * *

Taki-chan... Where are you?

Febri wandered around the apartment in search of Rikou. She was hungry and wanted breakfast, but Rikou wasn't around.

Because Shizuri left to assist both Saiai and Frenda, Rikou was the only one who bought Febri home, bathed her and read stories to her before bedtime. Other than Rikou and Touma, Febri felt uncomfortable pestering strangers for food.

However, she was hungry, so she took a deep breath and entered a room.

A brown-haired girl was sleeping soundly. Febri poked at her arm, but she felt a layer of air surrounding it. Despite poking as hard as she could, Febri could not penetrate through that layer.

She gave up and entered the next room.

Similar to the brown-haired girl from before, a blonde-haired girl was sleeping soundly. Instead of poking, Febri lightly shook her arm.

In a daze, Frenda half-opened her eyes to see a girl who looked a lot like her sister Fremea except that she was in a gothic lolita clothing. However, she was too tired to care, and swatted Febri's hand away.

"Fuck, did you escape from your dorm just to pester me for that game? Like I said, you're only seven, so you can't play it."

After saying that, Frenda went back to sleep. She was so tired that instead of being surprised, she chose to ignore her.

Feeling helpless, Febri entered the last room. Without Rikou, she felt like a prisoner being deprived of food. Somehow, this tea-colour haired girl who she remembered as Mugino Shizuri gave off a very threatening aura despite having a peaceful look hugging a large plush doll while sleeping, so Febri approached her with caution.

She poked Shizuri. That didn't work, and her hungry level had reached maximum, so Febri ignored all the warning signs from being so reckless and shook Shizuri as hard as she could.

Shizuri grew irritated and pushed Febri aside. She stood on her bed with her doll in one hand and prepared four green blobs, all aimed for Febri.

"STOP SHAKING ME YOU MOTHERFUCKER! I WAS HAVING A GOOD SLEEP AND YOU RUINED IT!"

Since Febri was only four, she did not know how terrifying her Meltdowner was. However, she broke into tears because Shizuri raised her voice, so that made Febri scared.

Rikou rushed inside and comforted Febri in her arms while Touma stood there with grocery dumbfounded.

"There, there. It's okay." Rikou said, "It's fortunate that I managed to prevent a tragedy from happening."

Only Saiai could safely wake Shizuri up in the morning because her Offense Amour could survive her Meltdowner when she sometimes get pissed off.

Both Shizuri and Touma looked at each other. There was no need for words. She was already nineteen, but she was still holding a doll. It was clear what Touma was thinking of her as a person.

Touma also seemed to have sensed what was going on. He had entered her bedroom without permission and finding out that a nineteen year old girl named Mugino Shizuri whose bedroom secrets involves having a doll beside her when she goes to sleep isn't going to end pretty.

However, that was not all.

A strong wind blew across Shizuri, lifting her white, silky nightgown up, revealing that she sleeps without panties as well.

"KAMIIIIJOOOOU TOOOUMAAAA!"

The resulting scene could only be described as bright green.

* * *

I saw something I wasn't supposed to be seeing.

The entire bedroom was blown apart.

My breakfast is ruined.

Such misfortune.

A normal life of Kamijou Touma consisted of many misfortunate incidents such as these. He was already used to seeing girls half-naked by accident, but his misfortune decided to fuck him up by letting him see such a dangerous girl like Shizuri exposed.

Yesterday's incident was enough proof that she was dangerous. Fortunately, Shizuri left to aid her other team members in a job, so Touma was finally spared from her Meltdowner barrage.

Rikou patted Touma's shoulder, "Don't worry. This isn't the first time that the bedroom was blown apart... but I think you've gone a little too far this time."

"It was an accident! I didn't mean to see anything. And what do you mean by 'this isn't the first time'? I wonder how you can live with her and still stay alive." Touma said.

"She's getting better with managing her emotions."

Shizuri sat at the other side of the coffee table in the living room, and glared at Touma, "I'll fucking kill you if anyone else knows about it."

"Yes, yes." Touma sighed, "Anyway, Rikou, have you found anything about this girl?"

Rikou shook her head, "Through the legal way and some hacking into the Bank, nothing. I think I can tap into information from the darkness tomorrow or later during the day."

Shizuri said, "Hey, little girl. Other than your name, can you tell us where the hell did you come from?"

Febri could remember a lot of machines lying about in the dark space, and her sister was inside one of those machines. She knew the name for such a place like this.

"Lab. My sister is inside there."

"An experiment in the dark side?" Rikou said, "We may have to contact a Kihar-"

To Touma, Kihara was a sensitive word. It was a Kihara who was responsible for the massacre in the Child Error facility they were in. Rikou wasn't sure if he had moved on from the tragedy, but it seemed as though he did judging from Touma's reaction.

"It's okay. It's been so long. Well, contacting a Kihara is for later. I have a plan in mind."

Although Touma was technically 5 million yen in debt for hiring ITEM (Misaki had already paid for it, and insisted that he need not fork out a single cent), they were valuable strategic resources he could use to save Febri's sister, and worth the price for their skill set.

"What plan?" Shizuri asked.

It was rare that clients would give them a plan to follow. Normally, they would be given a requirement to fulfill and they would have to come up with their own plans for that.

"Get new clothes for Febri. Mugino will come alone with me firs-"

"Is this your excuse to go out on a fucking date with me?" Shizuri had a dangerous glint in her eyes, "Are you actually attracted to girls who goes to sleep pantyless with a doll, YOU PERVERT?!"

"Eh? No, that's not what I meant... HEEEARRRR MEE OOUUT!"

A flash of bright green blew the entire living room apart.

* * *

"Where shall we go today?"

A young couple was holding hands as they walked along in the peaceful streets of District 7. It was their third month anniversary, so they were thinking about going somewhere special today.

"Movies?"

The girl pouted, "Can't you think of anything special? We've been to the movies so many times already."

"Swimming?"

"That was last week."

The boy sighed and took out his wallet to see how much money he had, "How about we go to a private salon then? You know, those high-class ones at District 3?"

"Yay! I love you!" The girl leaned closer with joy.

Just then, a soft frog plushie dropped from a nearby bush. The girl was curious, so she went closer to take a look.

"Isn't it cute?"

She was standing at a distance holding the frog, smiling. Always so childish, the boy thought. But that was what he probably liked about her.

The frog began to shrink into nothing, but the girl was alert enough, and threw it back into the bush.

A loud explosion occurred, but she did not manage to survive the full impact of the explosion and laid on the ground bloodied.

"... Kawako? KAWAKO!"

Meanwhile, the girl who had long, black hair and an innocent and cute face known as Takagi Fumiya had also witnessed this scene from a distance as a passerby.

"The bombs I've set at the underground shopping mall should work perfectly. Hehe, I've created a hero who would appear to save this girl from her pain. Afterwards, this hero would also save other people who's in need! Perfect outcome for a warm up!"

Fumiya's plan to create heroes by becoming a villain using her upgraded Synchrotron ability was about to begin.

* * *

"Which one do you like?"

Touma held two dress in front of Febri while she looked intently at it. It was a difficult choice between blue and white.

"Hey, pervert, are you into little girls as well?" Shizuri said.

"Like I said, I'm not a pervert! That was an accident! And there's a reason why I asked you to come alone first!"

His plan was interpreted as a pervert boy trying to get a date with a girl who just aroused his supposed fetishes. His misfortune's inspiration knows no bounds when it comes to screwing with Touma's life.

If Febri was released by somebody, it must mean that she has value. The group imprisoning Febri's sister will want to recapture Febri.

By appearing to leave Febri open with only Shizuri and him, Touma was baiting the group to make their move.

He had a trap prepared for them if they went for the direct approach.

Shizuri looked at the erotic lingerie being put on display. When she blew the entire bedroom apart, her secret stash of lingerie was destroyed in the process.

I cannot let my reputation fall even lower in front of this pervert!

Touma already knew two of her embarrassing secrets. She would really look like a wanton in his eyes if Touma finds out that she also has a habit of collecting erotic lingerie.

But it's the limited edition, and there's only one piece remaining. I can collect the other pieces easily, but not this!

Shizuri was in conflict with her slight obsession to complete a full set of whatever she wants to collect.

She was three steps away from that limited edition lingerie, but there was a problem.

Where can I fucking hide that lingerie without letting him find out?

As Shizuri was pondering this question while staring at it, Touma noticed her looking intently at a blue erotic lingerie lined up with a white erotic lingerie. She had the same expression as Febri, so Touma thought that Shizuri was deciding on which one to buy.

"Umm... why don't you buy both then? I mean you'd probably need to buy replacements since your bedroom was destroyed."

Shizuri went up and took the blue erotic lingerie, with the red, black, purple, and white ones as well. Of course, all her clothes were wiped out by her Meltdowner. It's completely normal to get lingerie.

What was I worrying about before. Stupid me.

Shizuri had a strong feeling that Touma's misfortune would somehow expose this secret if she was not careful, but it seems as though everything is alright now.

An explosion occurred in multiple places at once within this department store. A similar situation could be seen outside. Fortunately, the explosion were not large enough to kill, but several people were on the floor groaning in pain.

Shizuri managed to hold Febri in time before she fell to the ground from the shockwaves.

A female voice sounded over the announcement system.

"Nice to meet you. It must be fate that you're inside the same shopping mall that I've chosen to target, #0. I have a hostage hidden somewhere in this building. As a hero, it's your job to save this stranger who is in grave danger because I've planted a time bomb on her."

A shop outside exploded into flames.

"Don't think about walking away like you always do."

Two more shops exploded into flames soon after.

"If you don't agree within 30 seconds, I'll bring the whole building down. All exits have been sealed, but it's only a matter of time before a path will be cleared. However, I don't think 30 seconds is enough for everyone to evacuate safely outside. Oh, you can reply from here, I can hear you clearly."

Febri could feel a strong signal calling for her, "I can sense my sister! I can sense her!"

"Oi, oi. What should we do now?" Shizuri spat.

"Listen up. I accept your challenge to save this stranger." Touma turned to Shizuri, "Get Febri out of here. The group after Febri went for the bait approach. Follow as planned."

Shizuri dumped all her lingerie on Touma, "If this isn't in one piece when we meet again, you won't fucking walk out in one piece."

She grabbed Febri and left the department store.

Touma stuffed all the lingerie and the dress that he wanted to get for Febri into a large plastic bag and hid it somewhere safe and hidden.

The female voice sounded again, "Excellent. You have one hour before the bomb explodes."

He slowly opened and closed his right hand.

"Now then, it's time to make a comeback."

"As the Kamijou Faction. We're missing a few people, but I suppose we three are enough."

A starry-eyed girl with long, flowing blonde hair who had kept herself and Rikou hidden using her Mental Out appeared beside Touma and smiled.

* * *

**Author's Note: **A villain who becomes one just to create heroes. I think I've totally changed the Graviton Bombing Arc into something different. Of course, there are massive flaws in Fumiya's logic, so this is where Touma will jump in and shatter her illusions as per usual I guess.

I do hope that I've kept the interaction between Touma and Shizuri in character, but most importantly is that you enjoyed it :D

Thanks for the support thus far, and I hope that my writing will continue to be good enough for you guys to continue supporting me.

If there's anything you want to comment about, please do leave them in the review box below.

See you :)


	5. 5: Graviton Bombing (2)

**Author's Note: **If you find yourself confused at the beginning, just read the last line of Chapter 4. I've edited a few parts.

I've also made subtle edits to the previous chapters. Well, some things in this chapter might seem a little out of a sudden as a result of these edits. Though I think if you read Chapter 5 as it is, there shouldn't be a problem at all.

* * *

"Are you sure that leaving Febri with only Mugino is fine?" Misaki said.

The three of them were running along the various shops through the crowd at the fourth level. The shopping mall had descended into chaos as everybody were rushing towards the exit.

Rikou said, "Don't worry. It's okay. She's a Level 5 after all. Anyway, she has outside support."

If the rankings were based on overall combat ability and experience, Shizuri would still have been the #3. Misaki felt quite sorry for Shizuri since Mikoto was the #3 only because her Railgun was more valuable than the Meltdowner.

Misaki was also demoted to #5, but since the ranking system is proven to be flawed when Misaka Mikoto became the #3, she did not care at all. Why did Shizuri commit suicide over being demoted was beyond her.

"Stop, stop, stop!" Misaki bent forward and put her hands to her legs, panting heavily. Her fitness level was so bad that a slight jog could tire her easily, not to mention running.

Touma shook his head, "You really need some exercise. Maybe you should play soccer with Sogiita more often."

"You're...crazy..." Misaki tried to catch her breath, "His Amazing Kick will end up destroying the ball and tear the field into two. I don't want to play with such a monster."

"Maybe this could be a penalty if Misaki cannot run 100 meters in 11 seconds or 2.4 km in 13 minutes." Rikou said.

"Whaaat are you people talking about! Those are impossible numbers." Misaki said.

Touma said, "It's for your health. Stop lazing around and hit the gym for once in your life."

"Anyway," Misaki said, "How are we going to find this person who is hidden somewhere with a time bomb?"

Rikou took out a blue case, opened it and licked the white surface. This was Body Crystal, a powdery substance that she relied on to boost her AIM Stalker, an ability that allows her to memorize and track down AIM fields, but she could do more than that with Body Crystal.

Her eyes widened, signalling the activation of her full ability.

Just then, a girl who had long, black hair with an innocently cute face appeared in front of them.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Takagi Fumiya."

It was the same female voice that sounded over the announcement system. And the same girl Touma ignored yesterday who eventually got raped by some thugs.

It was Misaki who found out through reading the mind of the same thugs when they harrassed her together with Rikou. Needless to say, Misaki mind-controlled them to slit their throats with a broken glass bottle.

Fumiya continued, "You're the heroes who will save the stranger I've placed somewhere in this building," her voice growing more excited, "Originally, only one hero appeared to save her, but now I have two more. I've created more heroes!"

Touma said, "Don't tell your purpose in setting off bombs and abducting a person is to create heroes? What?"

"Yeah~ Correct! I'll show you what I mean."

Fumiya snapped her fingers, and the chaotic flow of people running about was stopped. They tried to move, but an unknown pressure prevented them from doing so. It was like being trapped inside an invisible, sturdy form-fitting box.

"My ability is known as Synchrotron. To be exact, I can manipulate gravitons. Normally, it is a very weak force that even at Level 4, only a sizable explosion could be created using aluminium as a base, but my Synchrotron has advanced beyond that."

"Her AIM field is one giant field surrounding the whole building," Rikou said, "This allows her ability to become 160 million times more powerful than normal."

A flaw of graviton ESPers is that their ability acts on a microscopic level. At this level, the gravitational force are so weak that relatively speaking, electromagnetic forces are exponentially more powerful. This is why even at Level 4, they are only able to manipulate gravity at a small scale of creating explosions.

But, with a 160 million times boost, she could easily crush a single person within her sight. Rikou had no idea how she managed to do that without the field destroying Academy City, but she was technically a god inside this shopping mall.

Fumiya smiled, "Ah, so you've figured that out. I'm impressed with the quality of heroes that I've created. Now then, demonstration time."

A loud cracking sound burst out, and one part of the crowd in the first floor were reduced to a bloody pile. It all happened before Touma finished blinking.

He trembled at this gruesome sight, and his eyes widened in horror.

"What... the hell?"

Fumiya grew excited upon seeing the mess that she created, "So I could do that as well? Hurray! I've created even more heroes by being a super powerful villain. It'll take more than three heroes to beat me, so gather more and more heroes if you want to save those people!"

"I..."

Touma clenched his fist. His trembling grew even stronger, and fury had completely taken over him.

"I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!"

Touma charged forth and swung his fist across Fumiya. Like an error code in a virtual simulation, she cracked into pieces before disappearing.

However, she reappeared on the opposite side.

"This is just a projection. Takagi Fumiya is one giant AIM field surrounding this mall, with its core being her human body. Yes, the stranger stuck with a time bomb I want you heroes to save is the core. If the core explodes, a black hole will appear to decimate Academy City.

"What will you do now? I've given you the solution to end this, so I expect more heroes to appear along the way! See you." Fumiya said, before she finally disappeared.

Misaki wondered if Fumiya did that on purpose to deal a psychological blow on Touma as revenge for not saving her from those thugs.

Just when he managed to overcome his trauma, this had to happen. Misaki prayed from the bottom of her heart that Touma will not turn back into his whiny self because of this.

Before he entered Academy City, a similar situation happened.

In Academy City during the Child Error massacre, it happened again.

In Europe when he lost his powers, except for the negation ability in his right hand, it happened as well.

Misaki understood why he would call himself powerless. It was these repeated incidents that made him think that way, but Rikou somehow managed to knock him to his senses.

"Are you okay?"

To Misaki's surprise and relief, Touma showed no sign of being a defeatist.

He took a deep breath and sighed.

"This time. I'll prove that I can change something with just my right hand."

* * *

Misaki was fumbling for a remote in her handbag while Touma was touching people with his right hand at the first level to free them from Fumiya's ability.

Rikou was staring into space, thinking about the impossibly huge AIM field.

"How can an AIM field amplified by 160 million times remain so stable? Academy City should have been destroyed when a field at such a magnitude was formed."

Touma freed the last person, and that person made his way to the exit. The first floor was now empty, but the corpses crushed like bottled cans with blood still leaking out remained lying.

"There must be a trick somewhere. Could it be that this is an artificial field used to conceal the real field?" Touma said.

Rikou pointed to the corpses, "No. The AIM field is determined to be Synchrotron, and it does require a 160 million times boost in the field to achieve this. The problem is that even if such a field were to be formed, how is it possible to boost it up by such an amount? Maybe we could combine the AIM fields of the 2.3 million ESPers inside this city through a giant network to boost one AIM field, but it'll be at most around 3 million times."

Misaki fished out a gray remote and pressed a button, revealing the graviton flow in this building through the small screen. The source was from somewhere in the basement level.

"I'm so lucky that I kept my science project remote in my bag."

Outside of Academy City, detecting gravitons was extremely difficult, but it's only a middle school science project inside Academy City. These were one of the ways that Academy City's technology was definitely 30 years ahead of the world.

"Particle detector remote?" Rikou asked.

Misaki sighed, "Yeah, first day in Tokiwadai and I already have a project to work on. The teacher rejected my remote because it was too simple," and leaned in close to Rikou and whispered, "But I changed that with my other remotes. It's a secret so don't tell him!"

"Have you found anything?" Touma asked.

"I've found the source of the graviton flow. It's at the basement. I think this is the core that we're looking for." Misaki said.

It seems that Touma was unaware of what she had whispered to Rikou. He would definitely give her a good lecture for abusing her ability if he finds out.

Rikou began to study the graviton flow, compared it to Fumiya's AIM field and nodded her head.

"You're right, the source of the graviton flow should be the core itself."

However, she realized something strange.

"Two cores? "

"Huh?" Misaki said, "What the hell?!"

A blimp in the remote kept flashing, showing an alternation of the graviton flow source from the uppermost level to the basement before a crackling sound could be heard and the screen went dead.

"It seems as though somebody else wants to protect the core as well." Touma said.

Misaki's face was red with embarrassment, "Umm... actually the power ran out."

She swore that if she could read Touma's mind, he must be facepalming in his mind. Her remote was a science project, so she decided to be lazy and designed a remote without considering the power consumption. Even Academy City's most powerful batteries wouldn't last more than 5 minutes.

Rikou patted Misaki's shoulder, "It's okay. At least it managed to be useful till the end. I believe that the true core should be at the basement, but just to be safe, I and Misaki will check the uppermost level."

"Will you two be okay?" Touma was worried since their abilities were support-type abilities, but most ESPers could be dealt with easily using Misaki's Mental Out, and Rikou's AIM Stalker can detect any incoming threat.

Misaki took out a remote and struck a confident pose, "Unless its a giant unmanned robot or something, we'll be fine." before she made a horizontal v-shape hand sign, "I'm a Level 5 after all."

* * *

Shizuri was on the phone with Febri as they made their way to the exit through a long passageway. Due to the chaos caused by the bombing before, many people were making their way to the exit as well.

"Oi, Kinuhata. Get ready. We're exiting the mall. It seems that the group after Febri has gone for the bait approach."

"Woah. I super won the bet! Anyway, we're super ready."

Frenda groaned in the background. That was 15,000 yen gone.

"Okay."

Shizuri put down the phone. She was rather impressed with Touma's plan.

If the group went for the direct approach, a trap in the form of the #5's Mental Out would end this easily. The mind-controlled pawn would provide them with critical information of the group to save Febri's sister.

And since they chose the bait approach, a trap in the form of the #4's Meltdowner aka herself would not lose to the #5.

The plan now was to find out more about this group, and show how naive their approach by displaying her prowess as a Level 5.

That was her favorite part of the plan. She liked showing those low-leveled ESPers their place as trashes that would be an insult if people were to compare her with them.

"Do you know where exactly your sister is? It would make things a lot more simpler."

Febri shook her head, "It's just a feeling. But the stronger the feeling is, the closer I am."

"Forget it."

As Shizuri kept on moving, something odd happened.

Everyone except for her and Febri were frozen. Something must be holding them in place because shock was all over their faces.

Fumiya was shocked that her ability did not work on those two, but she smiled at how two heroes were soon to be created.

"Heroes." Fumiya appeared in front of Shizuri and Febri and greeted them, "I remember you being with that spiky-haired boy. Anyway, I have a challenge for you two. There is a core stuck with a time bomb hidden somewhere inside this mall, if you find the core and defuse the bomb, I'll free all of them. But if you don't accept this challenge, I'll kill everyone here."

"What?" Shizuri was more annoyed than worried, "Are you fucking kidding me?"

Fumiya crushed seven people at once with her ability, "I don't make empty threats."

She thought that Shizuri would be frightened upon seeing such a bloody sight, or even be angry at her like what Touma did just now, but Fumiya was wrong.

Shizuri did not bat a single eyelid at what she has done, "I could do better, and I don't have time to waste with people like you."

While Fumiya's ability seemed impressive on the surface, Shizuri's Meltdowner could blast through more than seven people's head in a single shot given the right conditions.

Rage was swelling up inside Fumiya. It was people like her that she hated the most. All they care about is themselves. The spiky-haired boy from before was the same, and even this girl as well?!

Everyone else who was frozen in place were crushed. Blinded by rage, she kept spamming her crushing move on Shizuri and Febri, but it still didn't work. Fumiya gave up and decided to try another approach.

"It's time I show you what I am truly capable of."

Fumiya filled up the space with multiple copies of herself and smirked, "You're trapped. Those may be projections, but they are all made from gravitons. All of your attacks will be absorbed, and you'll be crushed by gravity if you come close to them."

Shizuri raised her both her palms, and blew away all the copies with ease.

Fumiya blinked in confusion. Was she an graviton negation ESPer or something? However, that wasn't the problem at all.

A voice in her head had guided her to become a giant AIM field surrounding this mall, with her human body as the core sustaining the field. It also told her that her Synchrotron was now beyond a Level 5 as the gravitons she's producing no longer follows the law of physics like the #2 Dark Matter thanks to the Level Upper. Nothing in this world should be able to destroy her graviton constructs.

"I-Impossible! Just what is your ability?!"

"Even Dark Matter cannot defend against my Meltdowner, what makes you think that your shit creations would be an exception?"

As mentioned before, her Meltdowner can convert electrons into unstable destructive matter said to be in a state between particles and waves. However, because of its ambiguous state, her Meltdowner follows and doesn't follows the law of physics simultaneously.

This was the reason why she was once the #1. It was at a different level than Dark Matter. She only became the #4 because Vector Change surpassed her in destruction, and Dark Matter and Railgun both surpassed her in application.

Shizuri had been trying to use her Meltdowner just like Dark Matter, but all she managed was a stupid shield and if she's lucky, the ability to phase into intangible energy. It seems as though she could not go beyond halting, convergence, fixation and throwing.

What she wanted was manipulation. If she achieved that, she would at least regain her #2.

Fumiya was at a loss. She wanted to tear Shizuri apart, but none of her attacks were working.

Please teach me what should I do to kill this bitch.

_Return to your core. Kill that spiky-haired boy who has found your core. Once you kill him, you'll be able to become Level 6. Then, you can kill anyone you wish to advance your goals._

But he's a hero. Isn't there another method?

_Ah, that is a good question. However, you're sacrificing one hero to create even more heroes without any trouble. Isn't that good?_

I see. You're right!

Fumiya nodded and disappeared.

Febri was trembling as she struggled to stand. Her eyes had become crimson red, and breathing laboriously. However, a robotic voice emanated within her body.

"Error Code 32. Reached the limits of nullifying attacks based on unknown laws directed towards self."

"Are you a cyborg or something?"

Shizuri had considered becoming a cyborg so that she could instant kill the Railgun without worrying about the lashback, but the feeling of replacing her body with something mechanical did not sit well with her, so she dropped the idea.

Febri pointed towards the end leading inside the shopping mall, "My sister... She has changed position. She's th-there..."

"Are you sure that it isn't your robot body malfunctioning?"

"We have... to go..."

Febri began walking unsteadily towards the direction she pointed, "Faster... before she disappear into somewhere else."

Shizuri decided to give Febri the benefit of the doubt that she hasn't malfunctioned yet.

* * *

Touma was at the basement level. As expected, it was empty.

Speaking of which, I haven't seen one Judgement or Anti-Skill member so far.

It was strange that Fumiya's action had not alerted Judgement nor Anti-Skill. She had crushed probably a dozen people at once with her ability, and Touma had freed the rest who witnessed this scene. It was impossible that nobody reported this.

It's too quiet.

Touma knew that there may be a trap waiting for him if it's that quiet, so he did not dare to let his guard down. Someone from the darkness must have done something to prevent the two peace-keeping forces from interfering. Are they trying to collect data on Fumiya's ability?

Right ahead was Fumiya's body, lying defenseless on the ground. There was no time bomb placed on her. However, there was a golden retriever attached with external arithmetic circuits beside her.

Did that dog defused the bomb? But I don't see any wires lying about...

"I've been waiting for you."

Touma jumped in fear.

Did a dog just speak to me?!

The golden retriever sighed, "Yes. I can talk. Is this your first day in Academy City?"

This may be Academy City, but this was the first time outside of movies that Touma saw a dog talking, not to mention sighing like a normal human being.

"Kamijou Touma. My name is Kihara Noukan. As you can see, there is no time bomb at all. This was all part of Takagi's plan to create heroes by giving you a goal to save the day."

"So is this the real core sustaining the AIM field, or is it another lie by Takagi?"

"This is the real core. If you touch it with your right hand, the field will disappear and everyone will be saved. But if you carelessly touch it, Takagi Fumiya will vanish forever, leaving behind an empty shell."

"Is this entire shopping mall incident one of your insane experiments?"

"Not all Kiharas are like that. This is a perfectly safe experiment."

"A 160 million times boosted AIM field that could destroy half of Academy City if it goes berserk is a perfectly safe experiment? You Kiharas really have a different definition of safe. Are you trying to push Takagi into a Level 6 through this experiment?"

"Only 20,000 times. Takitsubo read it as 160 million times because we inputted new values into her AIM field. We converted her emotional trauma into power that further multiplied it by 8000 times. This is only an experiment to prove a few hypothesis."

"Awakening?"

The process of awakening is simple, yet difficult to achieve. Basically, an ESPer must have an extremely significant epiphany. This will affect their Personal Reailty and so, achieve a new clearance level of their abilities. Those in the know refer to it as inputting cheat values to their AIM field that will level them beyond Level 5.

This Kihara must definitely be at the most upper level to be aware of such information.

Noukan smiled, "You're close. We've already proven what we wanted to prove. The experiment is over. However, I was here waiting for you because I wanted to tell you something.

"Because you chose to ignore her, this girl was raped last night. We have been observing you for quite some time, and we're worried about your out-of-character behaviour. We had a long term plan to turn you back into normal, but you being in the right time and the right place made things a lot easi-"

"I'm already back to normal." Touma moved closer to Fumiya's body, "It was last night when Rikou woke me up. I know that there are many people like Fumiya who I've ignored which ended up in similar or even worse situations, and it's all my fault, but that doesn't give her the rights to hurt other people."

"You can negate the core, and Takagi won't disappear if she appears as a projection in front of you." Noukan said.

Yes, this is definitely the Kamijou Touma that he knew, even though he intentionally disguised himself as a girl named Suzumiya Tomoki. Noukan wasn't sure why, but Touma may have planned to establish two different identities in both the science and magic side to prevent any conflicts.

Coincidentally, Fumiya appeared as a projection in front of Touma.

"So you've found the core. I'm disappointed that you managed to find it without any other help. At least I've created three heroes. However, I'm having some problems with two villains who ignore people in need of help like you. That's why I need to kill you to reach Level 6. Once I reach Level 6, I'll be able to rid the world of all villains like them without any problem."

Fumiya did not know what exactly his right hand could do, so she didn't care that Touma was standing right next to the core.

If only she knew about the Imagine Breaker inside Touma's right hand.

A right hand that could shatter any illusions.

Touma touched the core with his right hand.

A loud unnatural sound of glass breaking reverberated through the air, and the projected Fumiya shattered into tiny glass shards.

* * *

"Ri-chan. I can't take it anymore! Please stop!"

Misaki was panting while jogging around the uppermost level for a possible core. It was a mini training by Rikou to improve her stamina.

"We've barely started."

"What?! I'm sure we've already jogged around the whole area."

"This is just your imagination. We've only jogged for a 100 meters only. I'm not even out of breath."

Even though Misaki had already jogged for about 700 meters, Rikou lied so that Misaki would continue to push her limits further.

"Uuu! I need a break!"

As Misaki tried to catch her breath, Rikou decided to reveal the truth to motivate her.

"Actually, you've already jogged 700 meters. That's a lot more running than you did last year. Great job."

Misaki took out a remote and spoke telepathically, "I-I've finally broken a new record! Yay! Now I can brag to my friends that I've jogged 7000 meters!"

"It's 700 meters, not 7000 meters. I think I'll have to shatter those illusions of yours. Speaking of which, the AIM field has disappeared."

The core must have been at the basement, and Touma succeeded in negating the core.

Rikou clutched her head in pain. The side-effects of using Body Crystal was taking effect.

"Are you okay?!"

"I just need some rest."

Ten Powered Suits holding something like hockey sticks crashed into the uppermost level through the rooftop, surrounding them in all directions.

"What in the world?" Misaki said, "Well, I guess you've made a really big mistake in targeting us."

She pressed a button on her remote, and realized that all the ten Powered Suits were unmanned.

I can't be as misfortunate as Touma! This is ridiculous!

Rikou took out her blue case and licked the powdery substance again. With Body Crystal, her AIM Stalker could be an offensive ability as well.

She had been in an experiment involving Accelerator, and because Vector Change is the most valuable ability in Academy City, Rikou ended up memorizing his AIM field so thoroughly that she could use Vector Change if she consumes Body Crystal.

It was only at Level 1 without his automatic reflection, but that should be enough.

Using her enhanced strength, Rikou tried to punch through the Powered Suits, but it was strong enough to withstand her fists, so she could only push them back.

Rikou's vision became blurry and she had a throbbing headache. These were the side-effects from using Body Crystal, and the pain was intensified because she used it again before recovering.

Misaki could see that Rikou was on the verge of collapsing, and so she had no choice but to use the magic she had learnt in Europe.

It was at the height of the European War around a year ago that Touma supposedly triggered when both Misaki and Rikou flew to London. It was the first time in years they had news of Touma after his disappearance.

When they managed to contact the Dawn Coloured Sunlight, a magic cabal that Touma was in, they found out that he was actually the previous leader, and had left the cabal for quite some time.

The new leader, Leivinia Birdway, offered to teach them magic on account of being Touma's childhood friends as self-defense against other magicians if they wanted to look for Touma.

Normally, ESPers cannot use magic because mana is incompatible with the AIM field, so any attempt in using magic would result in severe injuries.

Misaki was taught magic based on a card system which follows different laws from other style of magic, but it doesn't mean that she could escape from the side-effects of using magic.

If a Golden-style magician created a temple filled with Telesma, and if Misaki performed the procedures carefully, she could theoretically draw Telesma from the temple into her remote and cast magic through it without any danger.

However, there was no temple, and she could not create one herself.

Also, this card system magic she was about to use wasn't what she specialized in.

Misaki took out a special remote, the cartridge popped open and she slot a card inside.

It was the Three Of Sword from the Minor Arcana deck.

The air morphed into a single, giant blade that slashed the Ten Powered Suits into half all at once in a circular motion.

Misaki felt a bursting pain inside her, and collapsed on her knees. Her internal organs must have been severely damaged from using magic carelessly.

Misaki went into shock and fainted. Rikou had also fainted from pushing herself too hard.

Meanwhile, Shizuri appeared and saw Powered Suits being sliced into two, and both Misaki and Rikou were lying on the ground with no signs of injuries.

Febri limped over to the robot and picked up a clear, thin case with a single strand of hair inside.

"My sister...?"

Due to the damage from the previous encounter with Fumiya, Febri had reached her limits and fainted as well.

Shizuri took the case from Febri.

"I expected something like that."

Assuming that Febri wasn't human, the group must have sent out a false signal to lure Febri into a trap in the form of Powered Suits.

While Shizuri had no idea how did Rikou managed to slice all those Powered Suits into two, she decided that the most important thing now was to send them to the hospital immediately.

* * *

Fumiya opened her eyes, and found herself being carried by Touma. Her world faded to black when he touched her core.

Why are impossible things happening?

Meltdowner could effortlessly blow away her graviton creations that should have been able to absorb any attack in the world.

This black, spiky-haired boy could take away her AIM field boost just by touching the core.

Even though Fumiya lost her ability to create graviton constructs and crush people within sight, she could still accelerate gravitons to create bombs.

Her plan to create heroes was not over yet.

She pushed herself against Touma, causing the both of them to lose balance.

Fumiya tumbled near a shop house selling dinnerware, and she grabbed a couple of utensils.

"So what if you took my power boost, so long as I kill you, I'll regain all my powers!"

Touma got up, "How will killing me regain all your powers? I don't understand."

"That's what my guardian voice is telling me. She says I have to kill you, or else I can't get my powers back."

Noukan mentioned that Fumiya was raped last night.

Is she suffering from auditory hallucination as a result of the severe emotional trauma? Or is an telepathic manipulating her?

Touma decided that he should find out more about this voice first.

"Is it that voice whose telling you to create heroes by hurting people?"

Fumiya shook her head, "It's my own idea. But she taught me a lot of things. She taught me how to use my powers in order to carry out my plan. Hmm?"

She heard the voice speaking to her, and responded through her mind.

Oh, I see. I can try to explain more about my plan so that he'll understand and he'll help me get my powers back, and advance my plans as well. That's a good suggestion.

Touma noticed the strange pause. Was it her voice speaking to her? And is that voice a female?

Fumiya continued, "This world has far too little heroes. Heroes cannot exist without villains, just like how light cannot exist without darkness. I will become the villain so that heroes will be created in order to defeat me. The stronger I become, the more heroes that will be created. It's that simple. Now that you understand, why don't we work together? She says that it'd be good to get more allies, especially when I'm weaker now."

"You're wrong."

Touma did not blame Fumiya for thinking that way. Nobody came to save her from being raped. Naturally, she would think that this world has too few heroes because one did not appear to save her.

But there were flaws in her thinking.

"It is true that villains exist to prove that heroes also exist. As a villain, you're hurting people, but not everyone will become a hero as a result of your actions. Those people you've killed have loved ones who care for them. Some of them might become villains instead when they get too consumed by their negative emotions from the loss.

"You said that you wanted to become stronger as a villain so that you can create more heroes. Then why don't you become stronger as a hero so that you can save everyone? Isn't that what you are truly after?"

Shock ran over Fumiya.

In the end, her plan to create heroes by becoming a villain was to save everyone who is in need of a hero.

He's... right. I don't have to become a villain to create heroes. Wait, I can become a hero to create other heroes by inspiring people to become one.

I can send a message that everyone can be a hero!

_He's lying._

The malicious voice spoke.

_Do not be deceived by his lies. Remember, he was the one who took your powers away. _

But what he says make se-

_Enough. Listen to me. You have to kill him if you truly want to create heroes. Only by becoming a villain then you can 100% create heroes. His method has a extremely low rate of success. _

Fumiya lifted both her hands. She was ready to throw the utensils in her hands, and accelerate gravitons to create bombs which will kill him.

Her voice said 100%, and Fumiya trusted that voice, so she decided to follow her suggestion. Perhaps this was some kind of trick by Touma.

"She said that your method isn't 100%, and she said that I have to kill you if I want to truly create heroes."

Fumiya threw everything towards Touma.

The utensils began to shrink into nothing, and an explosion shattered all the windows, and tore the ground apart.

"He should be dead."

However, a figure with a hand raised within the smoke proved her wrong.

Touma covered the distance between him and Fumiya in five steps.

"If you think that your voice represents the truth, then let me first crush that fucked up illusions of yours!"

And his right hand mercilessly struck Fumiya's face, knocking her out.

* * *

"This is very interesting."

Aritomi Haruki was inside a black van parked outside the shopping mall. He had hacked into all the CCTV inside, and was watching a scene through the screen.

"Since when is the #5 able to turn illusions into reality?"

He had sent a couple of Powered Suits through the rooftop to collect data from the #5 and Rikou. Haruki was curious to see what those two would come up with to fight those Powered Suits.

He saw Rikou possessing some kind of enhanced strength. While it wasn't strong enough to pierce through the modified amour after collecting data from Saiai, she still managed to push them away.

So it's true that AIM Stalker can copy other abilities for her own use.

What was surprising was Misaki slotting a card inside a remote, and turned the air into a giant blade. Since when was Mental Out capable of this? Or was this some kind of illusion created by her ability?

However, the focus was Febri.

"Error Code 32..."

Haruki wanted to send Powered Suits after Febri to test her ability to act as as a fail-safe to the Diffusion Ghost network controlling those Powered Suits by forcing her to nullify it when faced with imminent danger.

Febri was built based on Nunotaba Shinobu's work to create an anti-AIM field to copy the #0's nullifying ability.

However, Error Code 32 seems to be suggesting that Febri could nullify other things as well.

"I will have to contact Nunotaba about this."

* * *

Inside the security room, there was a woman in a cheap, ready-made suit who had her focus on the laptop.

She was Kihara Yuiitsu.

"Everything is going smoothly."

Yuiitsu was the one who gave Fumiya an MP3 containing Level Upper, and after boosting her AIM field by 20,000 times, she inputted hypothetical values into her AIM field through the network that converted her trauma into power that further multiplied the field by another 8000 times.

It was an imperfect simulation of the Level 6 Shift Project, but it managed to prove a few things that she wanted to prove.

Yuiitsu sat back and sighed after finishing her report on this experiment in the shopping mall.

* * *

Report regarding the Level 6 Shift Project

(#1): No comments. So far so good.

(#4): Her AIM field served as a defense against Takagi's gravity crush. Also, her Meltdowner managed to destroy Takagi's graviton constructs which doesn't follow the law of physics like Dark Matter. I wonder how she would fare against the real thing.

* * *

**Author's Note:** And so we come to the end of the Graviton Bombing Arc. I'll point out a few important things.

The Level 6 Shift Project is slightly different than in canon. Shizuri and Accelerator are participating.

Misaki has knowledge regarding magic and will probably be expanded on during later chapters when it becomes more relevant.

Anyway, I suppose I'll keep my note short.

I hope you liked it. I was kinda stressed when writing this chapter, but whatever. If you have any comments, just leave them in the review box below.

See you :)


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